§ Captain Kerbyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if, in view of the moral obligation upon Her Majesty's Government to raise African living standards in those areas under British jurisdiction, he will take such action as will promote the exploitation of Southern Tanganyikan coal and iron deposits, release funds for the linking-up of Rhodesian and Tanganyikan railways, and set up machinery for an expert investigation of the economic possibilities of an oil-from-coal industry based upon the Ruhuhu coalfields.
§ Mr. ProfumoThe desirability of intensifying the development of coal resources in Colonial Territories in Africa, including Tanganyika, is being investigated, but no conclusions have yet been reached. Iron ore deposits have also been investigated but are unlikely to become worth working without other development in the area. I am advised that an oil-from-coal industry would be both impracticable and uneconomic at this stage of the territory's development.
The linking-up of the Rhodesian and Tanganyikan Railways has been fully investigated, but I regret that the 41W economic merits of this project are not at present considered such as to justify the allocation to it of money and resources required for other more urgent development in East and Central Africa.